Adjustable supporting unit



Nov. 17, 1959 Q. J. BASH ADJUSTABLE SUPPORTING UNIT Filed Dec. 10, 1956 INVENTOR OWEN J 545% ATT NEYS T ia.4.

Uflltd StZltS Pat t ADJUSTABLE SUPPORTING UNIT Owen J. Eash, Oakland, Calif., assignor to Kleer Klee Mfg. C0., Hayward, Califi, a corporation of California Application December 10, 1956, Serial No. 627,160

4 Claims. (Cl. 248-148) This invention generally relates to units for mounting or supporting an object in a selective predetermined posi- 'tion, and is more particularly directed towards a unit capable of supporting an evaporative cooler or similar device on an irregular supporting surface such as a sloping roof or the like.

As is well known in the art, in many instances it is desirable to place an evaporative cooler on the roof of a building, and since such roofs may be fiat or inclined, a problem arises in designing a proper support for such a cooler which may be universally adapted for positioning the cooler in a horizontal position irrespective of the roof inclination or irregularity in an otherwise horizontal roof.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a unit for supporting an evaporative cooler or the like on the roof of a structure in which the cooler may be properly leveled irrespective of the roofs slope or irregularities thereon and which will firmly hold the cooler in such oriented position.

Another object of the invention is to provide a supporting unit of the character described which is extremely simple in construction and which may be readily and easily installed at the job site.

A further object of this invention is to provide a unit of the type referred to which permits vertical adjustment at spaced portions of the cooler or object being supported and which is attached to such a cooler in a manner to effectively prevent the leakage of liquid therefrom.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the. specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted Within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawing:

Figure l is a perspective view of a portion of a roof with the supporting unit of the present invention in operative position thereon, an evaporative cooler being supported thereby being indicated by dot-dash lines.

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of one of the supports of the unit.

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the plane indicated by the line 33 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the supporting brackets.

As hereinabove explained, the supporting apparatus of the instant invention is primarily designed for the adjust able mounting of an evaporative cooler or the like on the roof of a building. Such a cooler is generally indicated in the drawing by the numeral 12, and will be seen to include side walls 13 of generally square or rectangular configuration, a top 14, and a bottom pan 16. No need is seen for explaining further the function or detailed constructional configuration of an evaporative cooler since the same are well known in the art. However, it should be pointed out that the pan 16 must be of imperforate' construction as the same is adapted to contain a quantity of water which is utilized in the operation of the cooler. It will also be noted that the juncture of each of the side walls is provided with a curved radius 17, and as will be later explained, this radius is utilized in the mounting of the supporting unit on the cooler housing.

As would be expected, in the installation of an evaporative cooler, it is necessary that the same be horizontally disposed and in the case of a pitched roof such as that indicated at 18 in the drawing, a problem arises in producing a simple support whereby the cooler will be spaced above the roof but still maintain a horizontal orientation. This is accomplished by means of the apparatus of the present invention which generally includes four substantially identical supporting units, each of such units being adapted to engage a lower corner portion of the cooler and permit its proper horizontal and vertical adjustment.

Broadly speaking, each of the four'supporting units includes the following members: a bracket 21 which islower end of the standard and adapted to engage the surface of the roof 18.

Referring first to the bracket 21, which is best illustrated in Figure 4 of the drawing, the same will be seen to include a pair of normally disposed side walls 26 and 27 of generally square configuration, and a bottom wall 28 of like configuration. Also, for a purpose to be hereinafter explained, each of the side walls-26 and 27; medially of the height thereof and extending from the juncture of the Walls are a pair of slots 29 and 31 ren spectively, such slots being disposed in general parallelcured-to bottom corner portions of the cooler, and as illustrated, to the pan 16, by spot welding the walls 26 and 27 and/or the bottom 28 directly to the pan. It is important that no rivets or machine screws be used for mounting the bracket on the pan since, as above mentioned, the pan is adapted to contain a quantity of water, and therefore any normal type of connection might per mit such water to leak past a rivet, screw or bolt and. e'scape'from the pan. However, the spot welding 'of the bracket will effectively eliminate the danger of such leakage. These brackets are preferably welded to the pan at the time of manufacture or assembly of the cooler unit, and by reason of such prior installation, the mounting of the unit on the roof will be greatly facilitated.

Now referring to the posts or standards 22, the same will be seen to merely comprise a length of angle iron having normally disposed equal flanges 36 and 37 respectively. The lower end of the standard is adapted to be pivotally secured to the mounting plate or footing 24, the latter likewise comprising a short length of angle iron having flanges 38 and 39 respectively. The connection maybe made by providing aligned apertures at the lower end of flange 37 and a medial portion of flange 38 and providing a suitable nut and bolt construction 41 for pivotally securing the same together. Then, the flange 39 of the footing may be secured to the roof in any of the conventional manners such as by screws (not shown) or the like.

As will be noted in the drawing, the angle standard or post 22 is adapted to engage the outer surface of bracket 21 at the intersection of walls 26 and 27, the

bracket being capable of sliding movement along the post so as to permit the previously discussed adjustment of the cooler on the posts. In order to lock the bracket and consequently its attached cooler to the standard at a desired position along the length thereof, the clips 23 are utilized, and as will be seen, such clips comprise a short length of angle having flanges 46 and 47 of a length substantially greater than the flanges 36 and 37 of the standard. In this manner and as best seen in Figures 2 and 3 of the drawing, the flanges 46 and 47 are apertured adjacent the ends thereof and at a position beyond the distal ends of the post flanges 36 and 37. By align ingsuch apertures with the slots 29 and 31 of the bracket 21,, a bolt 51 may be inserted through the slots 29 and $1 and through the aperture in the clip flanges and secured thereto such as by a nut 52. It will be noted from observing Figure 3 of the drawing that the nuts may be initially installed by means of the enlarged opening 32 at the juncture of the bracket walls. That is, the head of the-bolt may be inserted through the opening 32 from exteriorly of the bracket, and then moved along the slot 29 or 31 to a position adjacent the end thereof wherein it may be properly aligned with the aperture in the angle clip. It will be obvious that by merely loosening the nuts 52, the bracket 21 and the cooler supported thereby may be readily moved along the supporting standard or post 22. However, when the cooler is properly oriented relative to the horizontal and/or vertical, the nut 52 is tightened, thereby clamping the supporting clip 23, the angle support 22 and the bracket 21 together and against relative displacement.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that a Very simple supporting unit has been provided which may be economically produced and which is capable of properly orienting and supporting a unit such as an evaporative cooler with a minimum of difiiculty or installation problems irrespective of roof pitch or other roof deviations.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising a plurality of supporting units each comprising a bracket having a pair of normally disposed side walls and a bottom wall adapted to be secured to the article being supported, an angular post having flanges engageable with the respective side walls of said bracket, an angular clip having flanges overlying said post flanges and pro vided with distal end portions extending beyond said post flanges, and means extending between said bracket side walls and said clip for releasably clamping said post therebetween.

2. An adjustable supporting apparatus for a generally rectangular object comprising a plurality of units each including a bracket having normally positioned side walls and a bottom Wall and adapted to be positioned adjacent a lower corner of an object to be supported, an angular post slidably engaged with the side walls of said bracket, each of said brackets having horizontally extending slots in the side walls thereof and extending beyond the edges of said post flanges, an angle clip overlying said post flanges and having an aperture therein beyond the edges of post flanges and aligned with said bracket slots, and fastening means interconnecting said bracket walls and said clip flanges extending through the apertures and slots respectively.

3. Apparatus of the character described comprising a plurality of supporting units, each consisting of a mounting bracket having normally disposed side walls and having a pair of slots with one slot in each side wall and communicating with each other at the intersection of said walls in an enlarged opening, said bracket having a bottom wall adapted to be positioned adjacent a lower corner of an object to be supported, a vertically extending post of angular configuration and positioned against the outer surface of said bracket at the juncture of said side walls, an angular clip disposed in contiguous relation over said post and having flanges extending beyond the edges of the flanges of said post, each of said clip flanges having an opening therein respectively aligned with one of said side wall slots, and bolt means having a head of a larger diameter than said slot and capable of passing through said enlarged opening from the outside of said bracket disposed on the inner Wall of said bracket and extending through said slot and said clip flange aperture, and a nut engageable with said bolt for clamping said post between said clip and bracket.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 in which the lower end of said post is provided with a footing, said footing being pivotally attachable to said post whereby it may be angularly disposed in adjustable relationship thereto.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 412,199 Mcllhenny Oct. 1, 1899 732,507 Blackstone June 30, 1903 825,248 Silver July 3, 1906 1,179,955 Ohnstrand Apr. 18, 1916 1,264,228 Uhl Apr. 30, 1918 1,667,913 Weston May 1, 1928 2,719,509 Kitson Oct. 4, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 702,658 Great Britain Jan. 20, 1954 

